Grooveshark Loses Big in Court

The online streaming service Grooveshark suffered a legal defeat on Monday when a U.S. judge found its operators liable to nine record companies for having directed employees to upload thousands of copyrighted songs without permission.

The judge held Grooveshark's parent company, Escape Media Group Inc, and its founders Samuel Tarantino and Joshua Greenberg, responsible for the illegal uploads of 5,977 songs by musicians such as Eminem, Green Day, Jay-Z and Madonna.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa in Manhattan pointed to "uncontroverted evidence" of direct infringement, including a 2007 internal announcement where Greenberg asked employees to "please share as much music as possible from outside the office" to speed growth.